Feeding a recovering hen from a bad case of coccidiosis

[agold23]

My hen was diagnosed with coccidiosis last Tuesday from a vet who only found a few possible nematode eggs but was also convinced she was very sick from coccidiosis even though he could find any in the fecal exam provided. Since then she is now walking and drinking on her own, we saw drastic improvements from the almost lifeless bird to being aware and alert of her surroundings even 3 days after treatment of single dose dewormer and 3 treatments of Baycox cocciocide.

She has been syringe fed for the past week and a half a diet primarily of egg yolk, chicken thighs, molasses and Poly vi sol infant multivitamin. The vet told us to continue her diet of protein, iron and glucose even though her intestines aren’t in good shape. She isn’t digesting her food well so her poops are watery with lots of urate with green poop. We have now been alternating a purée of egg yolk, lactose free milk and multivitamin for protein and a purée of spinach, pure canned pumpkin and probiotics for digestion. She is drinking on her own now (rather clumsily may I add) but we will continue to syringe feed her until she is eating enough feed on her own. We
will continue to supplement her diet until she has regained the weight she has lost, the vet told us she is malnourished from not recovering from her brood and the parasites.

Essentially my question is, is the spinach (and the vitamin E in it) as good for her as I’ve read it is for digestion/absorption? I know the calcium binding oxalic acid in it isnt the best but I read it can be offset by apple cider vinegar which also works well for digestion. Is this too much for her already weakened intestines? How long will the intestinal repair take? What is the best food(s) for this kind of thing?

My hen sleeps in a dog crate in the house with her 6 week old chick during the night because it’s starting to get too cold for her weak body in the coop. For 6/7 hours during the day she is out enjoying the sun and walking around, away from the rest of the flock. We think it’s important for her to be doing this instead of sitting in a crate all day. I am treating the rest of the flock with 2 tsp Corid/1 gal water for 1-7 days, 1/2 teaspoon/1 gal water for 8-14 days and my flock isn’t exhibiting any symptoms but I just want to get rid of it once and for all.

 

[Briosafarm]

So glad she's doing better...Baycox is amazing stuff. Reading what you are feeding her (it's obvious you're taking good care of her and have brought her back from the brink) I think at this point I would discontinue the molasses as it can cause diarrhea/watery poops. I would also stop the milk, spinach, and pumpkin as they aren't necessarily providing much nutrition for her debilitated state and might even be continuing to irritate her digestive tract. The best bang for the buck nutritionally is a high protein chick starter or all flock crumble; I would make a wet mash from it, they usually like wet food a lot, and mix in some egg yolk as it's so nutritious...and chicken-specific probiotics of course. I think you made a good call treating the rest of the flock as well!

 

[agold23]

A few days ago she was able to walk around and be active with her chick. Her eyes were open, her poops were normal but small and she was picking and eating the scrambled egg we offered her. She’s gone downhill again, my whole flock had caught some strain of respiratory infection from wild birds about a month ago and it’s come back to haunt us. Then, it manifested in a bubbly eye in my rooster which we treated with Denagard. Over the past couple days she’s gotten weaker and weaker to the point where she’s not able to hold herself up anymore. This morning she had mucus streaming from her beak. I’ve been wiping the inside of her mouth with paper towel before I syringe feed her blended chicken thighs and egg yolk as well as water with the antibiotics. She can barely get it down there’s so much. I am so upset she’s back to her catatonic state of sickness. I honestly can’t tell you if she’ll make it again. We called the vet this morning for antibiotics and they still haven’t called us back.